mixing cal,mag,and kh?

nightfire

nightfire

New member
hey guys soon as jay gets back to me via pm i should have some brs supplemints for mag, cal and alkalinity.....question is how is it easiest to make up and dose? i will also start doing kalk (pickling lime) soon....after i have the new stand made up i will install my ATO and just wondering how would be the easiest way to go about doing all this.....asking ya guys that already dose makes sense to me being that im sure ya guys have tried different ways....anyways let me know...thanks :D
 
On the 2 part they come in Gallon Bag mixes, That you add to a gallon Jug and Mix it up!
Then you dose the amount your tanks demand uses every day, And without a lot a SPS your demand will be very low. You may get by with just dripping Kalk at night in a container with a valve to adjust the drip so it goes very slowly into your sump. And to start I would only make small amounts of it until you get familiar with how much will drip overnight, You can adjust this by timing how much goes in say every hour and figure how much evaporation your tank uses and replace that water with Kalk. Simple but you must not overdose as the PH of Kalk is around 14 so you can really damage your tank if you over do it. Start with a gallon jug and let it drip very slow, Keep the valve an inch above the bottom of the jug and don't let the scum layer on top get in the tank, Stop it before it reaches the valve. Timing is key in how fast you drip and how much you let drip overnight.
Bill
PS, 2 tsp Mrs Wages per gallon of RODI water is the correct mix for Kalk, Mix and let it settle for at least an hour before use, Longer if possible FYI
 
Bill's method is the best but if your tank is like mine with only a couple of SPS then you can go a couple of days and test CA, ALK, MG and dose accordingly. My tank goes 2-3 days with steady parameters and then I go to BRS reef calculator and it tells me how much to dose to get parameters where I want. My Mg stays pretty steady and my Ca and Alk go down about same rate so I dose the same for each according to the calculator.

Once I get more SPS I will use Bill's method since it keeps things more steady.

Hope that helps.
 
great advice there guys.....how would this work with the way i think i will do my ATO which is a constant drip of water into my sump via an aqualifter and a valve.....if i can find the link to show exactly how it works ill show it but basically its and aqualifter hooked to air line with a t and a valve at the end....closing the valve would put a bit of pressure on the pump so thats why there is a t and that just runs right back to the ATO water.....anyway is that an ok way to have it set up?
 
All these means to add Kalk are OK until they Fail and dump too much into your tank at one time and overdose it. I speak from experiance and I have tried them all, The best way is Gravity Dripping with no more at one time that could harm your tank if it was all added at once by accident. Especially if you have not ever done it before, Err on the side of caution JMHO
Bill
 
i hear ya bill....just trying to find a easy way to drip the kalk and add those extra things....but im guessing the way to do it is just mixing those up in fresh water and then add that to my ATO as needed i was hoping that doing it with the aqualifter pump it would be fine
 
Just my two cents, but Make sure you add the BRS Alk supplement to the water, don't add the water to the ALK. I made the mistake once and a lot of the powder caked up and would not dissolve.

Ever since, I have added all powders to the full container of water.

On a side note, I use the ca, alk and mg from BRS, I found that instead of adding all of the mg at the end of each gallon of ca and alk, I just mixed the pouch into a gallon jug and add equal parts of each every day. Just allow time between the alk and the ca/mg addition.
 
One great test is calculate how much you need to add over a day and then just use RODI for what ever setup you choose before you try it with the actual product whether it is a gravity feed/pump or what ever this will prevent the accidental overdosing start with a small bottle with a tube in it and then slowly work toward a larger one. Once I was comfortable with the rodi water add then I went to a 1/2 solution. but first I would get your alk and Ca and MG all where you want them using the calculator on the BRS website and then start to test daily to figure out how much you need to add every day assuming you have a large enough tank the salinity should not change much if you are using the RODI test for your desired adding method. I actually did this with RODI and did not have the tube over the tank but dumping to a container to measure. Also test every so often and make small tweaks to your system. The BRS pumps are widely used and do a great job of allowing you to control how much you are adding using a controller or a timer
 
On a System that has some Demand I just replace all Top off water with Kalk, It basically replaces my ATO as it never comes on when I'm Dripping Kalk Daily. But you must Check your Parameters to make sure you are not adding to much for your tanks demand.
In my Situation My Ca Rx and Dripping Kalk is just barely keeping up with demand, But I have way too many Coral in this tank right now.
As soon as Mel gets time to restart his 240 that will be remedied as I will help restock his tank from mine.
It's all about demand and not just blindly adding things that you do not need, Test before you add anything on a daily basis JMO
Bill
 
i will test constantly..my tank is doing good....fish are fat and happy, only thing is my kh and ca are low...like to get my ca around 420 or so and my kh around 12, i think that will help my corals out alot....how do ya guys stor and mix up your stuff? meaning how long would having a gallons worth of ca mix sit around for before it goes bad and what bout the others (kh and mag)
 
Mixed solution

Mixed solution

nightfire said:
i will test constantly..my tank is doing good....fish are fat and happy, only thing is my kh and ca are low...like to get my ca around 420 or so and my kh around 12, i think that will help my corals out alot....how do ya guys stor and mix up your stuff? meaning how long would having a gallons worth of ca mix sit around for before it goes bad and what bout the others (kh and mag)
Click to expand...

I am not aware that any of these solutions go bad if kept in a closed jug so that there is no evaporation that would change the strenght. I just shake the Jug before i use it every time I add some to my tank.
And I aggree with adding small amounts of the Mg a little at a time as you use the Ca/KH as it keeps your Mg more stable that way. JMO
Bill:headwalls:
 
nightfire said:
i will test constantly..my tank is doing good....fish are fat and happy, only thing is my kh and ca are low...like to get my ca around 420 or so and my kh around 12, i think that will help my corals out alot....how do ya guys stor and mix up your stuff? meaning how long would having a gallons worth of ca mix sit around for before it goes bad and what bout the others (kh and mag)
Click to expand...

kh of 12 is too high in my opinion. I would shoot for closer to 8.
 
yea and some say around 10....either way mines way low....i tested lastnight my ca from my new salt mix is 450ish and my tank before a water change is around 300 so my tank is eating up a bit of ca for sure
 
NSW the KH is closer to 8 not 12 or 10 I have been letting my tank run around 7.8-8.0 with good results and it's easier to maintain at this level than higher levels.
Bill
 
yea im thinking that would be a good number too.....think kalk might hold those levels better for me right now til i started adding more sps and such?
 
It May?

It May?

nightfire said:
yea im thinking that would be a good number too.....think kalk might hold those levels better for me right now til i started adding more sps and such?
Click to expand...

That just might be enough for your low demand, And to add to the Potency of Kalk you can add some Vinegar to the mix to boost the strenght of the Kalk. This is done in certain amounts to make the Kalk a little bit mor potent, You can add a few Tsp at a time to boost it up to start and watch your tank for any adverse signs of it being too strong.
Bill
 
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